Travel Blog
The latest news and notes from the Travel team
ITA by Google and MileWise let you search flights in cash, miles and points on your mobile phone
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Recently, we
introduced
MileWise as one of our newest QPX™ customers. MileWise presents users with real-time flight prices shown in cash, airline miles, and hotel and credit-card points -- on one screen. MileWise also tracks traveler reward program balances, status and expirations, combining that data with travel and redemption preferences, to recommend the best way to pay.
Now, MileWise users can search with our QPX pricing and shopping technology on
milewise.com
and
their iPhones (Android will be available in Q1 2013). This means MileWise users have improved speed and range of search options whether they’re using their desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile device.
Here’s a snapshot of some of the features MileWise users have access to with MileWise for iPhone:
Innovative search features enabled by QPX
Combo Fares: combine two one-way tickets for big potential savings
Recent Searches: quickly re-try searches to see if that mileage seat has opened up
Search Filters: full set of filters so users can find exactly what they’re looking for
More innovative features for MileWise users
Track 500+ programs (including airlines, hotels, credit cards and many others)
Explore great places to go using individual points and rewards
Expiration Alerts: never lose hard-earned miles and points again
Receive Price Alerts
Activity notifications when status level or balance changes
Sanjay Kothari, Co-founder, MileWise, said “To become the best one-stop travel search engine, we needed an amazing mobile offering. With ITA's help, we believe we were able to deliver that. And, our Android mobile and tablet versions will be released in the first quarter 2013.”
Congrats to MileWise for their successful launch. MileWise for iPhone is available for download at
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/milewise/id548797388?mt=8
.
To learn more about ITA by Google, visit
www.itasoftware.com
.
Posted by Asif Khan, Sales and Business Development Manager
A better, faster travel planning experience: 2012 updates
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
(Cross-posted on the
Google Inside Search blog
)
Google aims to help people turn their intents into actions, lightning fast. For travelers, this means we’re helping to take the complexity out of planning a trip by making it fast and easy for users to find the information they need to plan their next journey. Whether you’re looking for information about flights, hotels, activities or destinations, we have tools to help you -- and they are easily accessible for people on the go. Some of our favorite new functionality is outlined below.
More information, better presentation
This year, we’ve made some changes to the user interface of Flight Search, and added features that offer more information about amenities and fees; we did this to help users feel well-informed, and to help them quickly choose the best itinerary.
For instance, you can now quickly compare multiple destinations and multiple days simultaneously, using live prices, with our recently introduced experimental feature called Flight Explorer. Try it at
www.google.com/flights/explorer
.
Flight Explorer experiment search results page
You can also use a number of new features to tailor your flight shopping:
More easily calculate the total cost of your trip by taking a look at the baggage fees displayed next to each flight option
Choose a flight offering in-air connectivity by viewing a new indicator noting flights that offer Wi-Fi
Consider a little more luxury in the sky by comparing the cost of flying business or first class instead of coach
Easily plan complex itineraries -- such as those including multiple stops, or trips that involve a flight into one city and a return trip from another -- without confusion, using our new, user-friendly interface
Multi-city trip, Wi-Fi availability indicator, upgrade cost and checked baggage fees
Going global
In March, we made it possible for users to find flights to more than 500 destinations outside the US. Soon after, we enabled this capability for
any
international destination airport, for flights originating from the US or Canada. Globetrotters can try these features at
www.google.com/flights
, or just type your departure city and destination in the search box.
Results for international destination flight
And late this year, we rolled out localized versions of Hotel Finder in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, UK and Ireland. Now, people in those areas can search for and view hotel options in their own language and currency.
Helping people make informed hotel choices
In 2012, we made it even easier to find and book the right hotel for you using Hotel Finder. We also added more content including Zagat reviews and amenities. Hotel Finder now shows the price and availability for a choice of room types.
Pricing information, reviews, hotel details on Hotel Finder
Varying room types on Hotel Finder
You can try these features, and others, at
www.google.com/hotels
.
Empowering road warriors, delivering better destination data
In September, we made it easier for you to find the information needed to plan a trip, whether you’re searching via desktop,
smartphone
or
tablet
.
Soon after, updates to
Google Now
offered a number of ways for you to stay informed while on the go:
Automatic flight status notifications
Updates on weather at your destination
Showcase of events happening nearby
Website suggestions to help you explore as you research things to do
Electronic boarding pass cards for ease of travel
Google now travel cards
Finally, you can easily tap into the collective intelligence of the web to uncover a list of information relevant to your destination, using the Knowledge Graph carousel -- and hopefully, find inspiration.
Knowledge Graph carousel list of activities in Rome
Stay tuned for more. We think you’ll love what we have coming your way in 2013.
Posted by Jeremy Wertheimer, Vice President, Travel
New Google Now: the perfect travel companion for the holidays
Thursday, December 06, 2012
(Cross-posted on the
Android Official blog
)
Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen! For Santa’s holiday travel this season,
Google Now
is just the prescription.
As you head off this holiday season, the latest update to Google Now makes it even more useful for traveling. Before you even leave your house, Google Now will tell you what the weather will be like at your destination (just in time to make sure you remember to pack those mittens). At the airport, your boarding pass is automatically pulled up, helping you breeze through to the gate (launching shortly for United Airlines, with more to come). And once you've arrived at your destination, Google Now can help you uncover some great activities, by showing you events happening around you, suggesting websites for you to explore as you research things to do, or allowing you to learn more about specific pieces while you’re at a museum (using Google Goggles).
All of this builds on top of some of the other cards designed for travel, like the currency conversion, translation, and flight status cards -- hopefully taking a little bit of the stress out of holiday travel so you can focus on family and fun.
We're also making Voice Search even more powerful: you can find out the name of the song that’s playing (“What’s this song?”), quickly find product info (“Scan this barcode”) and post updates to Google+ simply by using just your voice.
These goodies are waiting for you in the updated
Google Search
app, available on
Google Play
for devices running Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, or higher.
Posted by Baris Gultekin, Product Management Director
ANA renews QPX™ agreement with ITA Software
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
We’re happy to announce that All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline and one of our first QPX™ customers in Asia, has signed a new multi-year agreement for continued use of ITA’s pricing and shopping engine.
ANA launched QPX in 2008, utilizing our advanced airfare shopping tools to provide international airfare search on
www.ana.co.jp
. ANA has since expanded their international search capabilities to incorporate calendar, flexible date shopping and multi-city. Most recently, ANA added slice-by-slice search capabilities which allows travelers to customize their itinerary by selecting departure and return options separately.
Headquartered in the Shiodome area in Minato, Tokyo, ANA operates service to 49 destinations in Japan and 31 international routes. They’ve been a great partner and we’re excited to continue supporting their growth and expansion into other international markets over the next several years.
To learn more about ITA Software, visit
www.itasoftware.com
.
Posted by Lewis Chang, Sr. Technical Account Manager
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